Railway tie treating apparatus



By 15, 1947. H. E. WOOLERY 2,424,202

RAILWAY TIE TREATING APPARATUS Filed April 28, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet lHome: E. woomzv July is, 1947. v HQEWOO ERY v 2,424,202

RAILWAY IIE TREATING APPARATUS Filed April 28, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 2flames E. Wousnr July 15, 1947. H, E, OLE Y 2,424,202

RAILWAY TIE TREATING APFIARATUS Filed April 28, 1944 3' She ets-Sheet 5I4 l/aencsfi W LERX Patented July 15, 19 47 RAILWAY TIE TREATINGAPPARATUS Horace E. Woolery, St. Paul, Minn. Myra Lillian Woolery,executrix of said Horace E. Woolery, deceased, assignor to WooleryMachine Company, Minneapolis, Minn, a corporation of MinnesotaApplication April 28, 1944, Serial No. 533,118

12 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in railway tie treating orcreosoting apparatus.

In the relaying of railway track rails it is customary to adze the uppersurfaces of the ties to receive the tie plates upon which the rails arethen laid. In this operation the rail at one side is removed, the tiesadzed and plates laid, and the rail replaced, following which the railat the other side is removed and replaced in the same manner. Thefreshly adzed ties must be treated with creosote, or other preservative,before the plates are laid and heretofore this has been a time consumingtask as well as one which is wasteful of creosote and likely to causedamage to the workers clothes or injury to his skin. This is for thereason that the creosote has been applied by a swab or broom from a pailso that the material is unevenly distributed over the ties and comes incontact with the workers clothes and skin.

In accordance with my invention I provide an apparatus by which apredetermined quantity of creosote or similar material may be appliedevenly over the newly adzed surfaces of the ties, without waste andwithout possibility of coming into injurious contact with the operator.Another object is to provide an apparatus for this purpose which issimple, compact and readily operated and wherein both the quantity ofcreosote and the area over which it is spread may be readily adjusted tomeet various conditions. Still another object is to provide in such anapparatus a heating means to heat the creosote and facilitate its flow,particularly during cold weather, and a pump located so that it willproperly handle the material and take it from the tank at the pointwhereat fullest advantage is received from the heat applied to thematerial.

These and other more detailed and specific objects will be disclosed inthe course of the following specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is an end View of my improvedapparatus illustrating the same in use and. in position for creosoting afreshly adzed tie.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view, partially broken away of the apparatusas seen in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the swinging spray nozzle alone.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical cross sectional view taken along thelined-4 in Fig. 2.

Referring now more particularly and by reference characters to thedrawing, l indicates a cylindrical tank which constitutes the main bodyof the apparatus and serves to contain and carry 2 the creosote or othertreating and preserwng material, with which the tank is filled throughan opening covered by the cap II.

Adjacent its end the tank It) is provided with pairs of transverselyspaced, depending brackets 12 between which are journaled small flangedwheels l3 adapted to travel one of the rails M of the track.Longitudinally extending hand rails or bars l5 are provided along theupper side of the tank It! and by grasping these, at either end, aworkman may push the tank along the rail M as required.

Arranged lengthwise in the lower part of the tank is a heating duct orpipe I6 which opens at one end I! through one end I8 of the tank. Theother end l9 of the duct I6 is closed and terminates short of theopposite end 20 of the tank. To provide a draft through the duct thisclosed end 19 thereof is provided with an upright stack or pipe 2| whichcommunicates with the interior of the duct and opens upwardly throughthe top of the tank. A heater or burner 22 is positioned within the openend of the duct It and is here shown as a generator type of burner towhich fuel is supplied from a tank 23 through a fuel line 24. The tank23 is mounted near one end of the tank I0 upon a {plate 25 secured tothe hand rails l5. The burner 22 is supported upon a base bracket 26secured between the adjacent Wheel brackets l2, and circular shield orcover 21 is removably secured by screws 28 over the base bracket toprotect the exposed end of the burner.

A pump, designated generally at 29, is positioned centrally andvertically in the tank l0 and comprises a cylinder 30 havin an inlet 3|in its lower end with which cooperates a check valve ball 32. A cage 33limits upward movement of the ball 33 upwardly from the inlet 3|, saidcage being secured to the end 30 of the cylinder by screws 35. Abovethis inlet valve structure the cylinder 30 has a discharge opening 36 inone side and communicating therewith is :a pipe 31 which leads upwardlyfrom the cylinder and emerges at its upper end above the tank [0. Thepump further includes a piston 38 to which is attached a plunger or rod39 extending upwardly from and through the top of the tank.

The upper end of the pump cylinder 33 has a cap 30 to which is securedan upright tubular guide 4| loosely receiving the plunger 39 and at itsupper end this guide t! is provided with a gland member 42 through whichthe plunger passes. A large opening 63 in the top of the tank w clearsthe ump a p 1 and a o r 3 44 is removably mounted on this opening. Thepump being secured to this cover 44, as designated by the weldedconnection 45 between the guide M and cover, may be removed as a unitwhen the fasteners 40 (Fig. 2) for the cover are removed.

A tubular screen 41 encloses the pump 29 and hangs from the cover plate44 down to the bottom of the tank. The screen and pump both depend clearthrough the duct I6 which is apertured on upper and lower sides for thispurpose and provided with a sleeve 48 welded in place, to pass thescreen and keep the creosote from entering the duct.

A frame or boom structure 49 extends laterally from one side of the tankI and comprises two similar trussed side members 50 and I providedadjacent the tank with clips having upper and lower apertured ears 52and 53 overlying the outwardly turned and complementarily aperturedflanges of a section of a structural beam 54 welded, or otherwisesuitably secured to the tank side. Pins 55, having eyes 59 at theirupper ends, are passed through the apertured ears and flanges toreleasably anchor the side members 50 and 5| to the tank whilepermitting horizontal swinging movements of the members relative to thetank.

The outer ends of the side members 50 and SI are bifurcated at 51 toengage a horizontal mounting plate 58 secured to and extending from aspray hood 59. These bifurcated ends 51 are pivoted to the plate 58 byremovable bolts 60 and, as will be clearly evident in Fig. 2, theparallel motion of the side members 50 and 5| will .permit the hood 59to be swung in a horizontal plane substantially paralleling the tank andwithout twisting or turning the hood from its position with respect tothe tank. The plate 58 has a series of openings EI (Fig. 2) to receivethe bolts 60 and to permit the hood to be adjusted, toward and away fromthe tank, or to adjust the distance from the rail I4, traveled by thetank, to the hood.

The hood is generally rectangular in shape having a large open bottom.62 and upwardly converging sides and ends terminating in a smaller topopening 63. Extending upwardly from opposite sides of the upper openingor mouth 63 are uprights or standards 04 and 65 which are joined atupper ends by a handle 60, these standards being spaced apart in thedirection of travel of the apparatus. A brace rod 6'! is pivoted at 68-at its outer end to a cross bar 69 between upper end portions of thestandards 64 and 65 and extends inwardly or toward the tank, the innerend being pivoted at to an upper end of a post or upright angle IIwelded atop the tank I0 near its center. Thus the standards are heldagainst vertical tilting movements while the horizontal swingingmovement of. the hood is in no way interfered with.

The pump 29 is operated by means of a hand lever I2 which is pivoted atE3 between the standards 64 and 55 and swings up and down outwardlythereof. A crank finger I4 forms a part of the hand lever I2 and pivotedthereto by a bolt'I5 is the outer end of a link rod I6 which extendstoward and over the tank I0. A bell crank TI is fulcrumed at 18 upon oneside of the post II and has an upwardly extending arm 79 to the upperend of which is pivoted at 80 one end of a short link M. The other endof this link BI is then pivotally attached at 82 to the link rod I9 andthe two pivots 80 and 82 are disposed with their axes at right angles topermit complete freedom of movement of the link rod 16 both as a resultof operation of the hand lever I2, and during the swinging movements oradjustments of the hood. 59. The remaining arm 83 of the bell crank 11extends over the exposed end of the pump plunger 39 and a link 84 ispivotally connected at 85 and 86 to these parts. The crank finger I4 hasa series of openings 87 to receive the bolt 15 to adjust the pump strokein a readily apparent manner.

The range of upward and downward swinging movements of the hand lever"I2 is limited by means of a yoke 88 (Fig. l) which is connected by abifurcated link 89 to the lower end of the crank finger I4. The yoke 88loosely encircles a cross pin 90 supported by brackets 9I between thestandards 64 and 65 and limits the swinging movements of the crankfinger M.

A swinging spray nozzle 92 is provided and comprises a nozzle section 93(Figs. 1 and 3) which pivots on a coupling section 94 with a passageway95 connecting the interiors of these parts in a conventional manner. Thenozzle is supported immediately over the upper opening 03 of the sprayhood 59 by connection of the, coupling section 94 to a nipple 96 securedto and through a cross bar 91 extending between the standards 64 and 65.The nozzle section 93 is thus supported for swinging movements in avertical plane, parallel with that through which hand lever I2 swings,and said nozzle section is provided with an ear 98 to which the lowerend of a turnbuckle connecting or operating link 99 is pivotallyconnected at I00. The other end of the link 99 is pivoted at IOI to thehand lever 12. At both ends the link 99 is adjustable by series ofopenings IOI and I02 in the ea'r98 and a, bar I03 inthe lever I2 andsuch adjustments, plus the length adjustment of the link 99 provided byits turnbuckle formation permits a wide range of adjustment of the arcthrough which the nozzle is swung by operation of the hand lever as willbe readily apparent.

Liquid from the tank I0 is supplied to the spray nozzle 92 by a flexiblehose I04 which at one end is connected through a hand valve I05 to acheck valve I06 connected to the upper end of the pump discharge pipe31. The check valve I96 permits flow of the liquid into the hose butprevents. back flow into the pump. At its other end the hose isconnected through a drain cock I01: and an elbow I08 to the nipple 96supporting the. nozzle.

Operation In operation the apparatus is moved along one rail I4 of thetrack so that the hood 59 travels in succession across the ties I09 andat a distance from the rail I4 corresponding to the position at whichthe other rail (not here shown) is located. Thus the hood. may be,positioned over the freshly adzedsurfaces IIO of the ties I09 and thehood, is of such shape and size as to nicely cover and enclose thesesurfaces IIO. One man ordinarily pushes the tank I0 along the rail at .asteady pace, and. another man grasps. the handle 65 to position thehood, the parallel motion of the frame 49. permitting the hood to bebrought to rest for a moment over each tie and permitting minoradjustment of the hood exactly on each tie without swinging the hood outof parallel therewith. The hand lever 12 is urgeddownwardlyas the hoodsettles on the tie and thismotion, rocking the bellcrank "I1, urges thepump piston 38 downwardly to deliver a charge of creosote from the pumpthrough the pipe 31 and hose I04 to the spray nozzle 92. The nozzlesprays the creosote, or other liquid heavily down through the hood 59and the swinging movement of the nozzle, by downward movement of thehand lever, delivers the spray evenly across the full area of the adzedsurface H of the tie. The hand lever I2 is then raised, in the normalaction of lifting the hood 59 for travel to the next tie and thisoperation, by swinging bell crank 11, pulls the pump piston 38 upwardlyand draws another charge of the liquid into the pump cylinder 3!]. Asthe hood then reaches the next tie, this charge of liquid is deliveredthereto by the down movement of the hand lever as just described. Itwill be evident, therefore, that the ties may be treated rapidly andeffectively, and that the material is evenly distributed without wasteor possibility of contact with the workmen.

The treating material is, furthermore, delivered in an exactly meteredcharge each time, and the volume of each charge may be readily varied tosuit conditions by changing the connection 15 to the crank finger 14which has the eifect of varying the length of stroke of the pump piston38. Likewise the length of the arc traveled by the spray nozzle may bevaried as heretofore described, to control the area over which thematerial is applied.

The heating of the material by the burner 22 facilitates its proper flowand in this connection it will be noted that the pump inlet 3| islocated immediately adjacent the heat circulating duct l6 so that thepump takes the material from a location where the material hasthoroughly heated. In cold weather the hose i0 1 may be drained byopening the drain cock I01 and by loosening the check valve I06 topermit air to enter the hose at that point. Then to prevent the hosefrom being accidentally pumped full again the valve I85 may be closeduntil the ap-- paratus is used again.

The pump 29 being submerged in the liquid in the tank not only receivesthe liquid at its warmest but is always primed and is itself warmed sothat it operates freely in the coldest weather.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in thestructure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within thespirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention, whatI claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus of the character described for treating railroad track tieswith a liquid, comprising a tank for the liquid, wheels supporting thetank for travel movements along one rail of the track, heating meansassociated with the tank for heating the liquid, spray means supportedin laterally spaced relation to the tank for movement over and acrossthe ties as the tank travels along the rail, and means for supplyingsaid spray means with liquid from the tank, said supplying meansincluding a pump located within the tank, a hand lever for actuating thepump, and a connection between said hand lever and the spray meansoperative to move the spray means and direct the spray therefrom over alimited area of each tie.

2. An apparatus for applying creosote to railway track ties, comprisinga tank for the creosote, means supporting the tank for travel along onerail of the track, a spray hood, means supporting the hood in laterallyspaced relation to the tank for movement over the ties as the tanktravels along the rail, a swinging spray nozzle adapted to spray thecreosote over the ties one at a time over an area defined and confinedby said hood, a hand lever connected to the nozzle and adapted whenraised and lowered to swin the nozzle and direct the spray therefromacross the full width of the hood, a pump in the tank for supplyingcreosote to the nozzle, and connecting means between the said hand leverand pump for drawing in a metered charge of creosote into the pump asthe hand lever is raised and delivering the charge as the hand lever isswung downwardly.

3. An apparatus for applying creosote to railway track ties, comprisinga tank for the creosote, means supporting the tank for travel along onerail of the track, a spray hood, means supporting the hood in laterallyspaced relation to the tank for movement over the ties as the tanktravels along the rail, a swinging spray nozzle adapted to spray thecreosote over the ties one at a time over an area defined and confinedby said hood, a hand lever connected to the nozzle and adapted whenraised and lowered to swing the nozzle and direct the spray therefromacross the full width of the hood, a pump in the tank for supplyingcreosote to the nozzle, connecting means between the said hand lever andpump for drawing in a metered charge of creosote into the pump as thehand lever is raised and delivering the charge as the hand lever isswung downwardly, and means for varying the are through which the nozzleis swung by upward and downward movements of said hand lever.

4. Apparatus for spraying newly adzed railway track ties with creosote,comprising in combination, a tank for the creosote, means supporting thetank for travel along one rail, a frame extending laterally from thetank, a spray hood supported by the frame, the said hood having an openbottom and for travel above the ties and adapted to be lowered over thenewly adzed portions thereof, spray means for spraying the creosote oversaid portions of the ties through the open bottom of the hood, a pumpfor supplying creosote from the tank to said spray means, means foroperating the pump, and the said frame comprising parallel memberspivotally connected to the tank and hood and supporting the latter forhorizontal swinging movements with respect to the tank and in a planesubstantially parallel thereto.

5. An apparatus of the character described for applying a treatingliquid to railway track ties, comprising in combination, a tank forcarrying the creosote, wheels supporting the tank for travel movement onthe track, spray means for delivering the creosote to the ties, a pumpconnected to the spray means for supplying creosote thereto, a heatingduct disposed within the tank above the bottom thereof and opening atone end through one end of the tank, a heater positioned in said duct,and a stack extending from the other end of the duct and opening throughan upper part of the tank.

6. Apparatus for spraying creosote on railway track ties, comprising incombination, a tank for the creosote, means supporting the tank formovement along the track, a hollow heating duct disposed lengthwise nearthe bottom of the tank and extending at one end therefrom, a stackopening from the duct through an upper part of the tank, a burnerarranged in the duct for heating the creosote surrounding the duct, apump having a lower portion disposed in the duct and havingan inletadjacent the duct to receive the heated creosote, and spray means forreceiving creosote from the pump and delivering it to the ties.

7. An apparatusfor spraying railroad track ties with atreating liquid,comprising in combination, a tank for the liquid, wheels supporting thetank for travel along the track, spray means supported in laterallyextending relation from the tank to travel over the ties as the tankmoves along the track, a pump in the tank operative to supply liquidtherefrom to the spray means, a hood positioned below the spray meansand adapted to define an area of each tie to be sprayed, said spraymeans including a nozzle swingably supported with respect tothe hood todirect a spray over the area defined by the hood, and ahandleoprativelyconnected to the nozzle for swinging the same.

8. An apparatus for treating railway ties with a treating liquid,comprising a wheel supported tank for containing the liquid and saidtank being adapted to travel along the railway, spray means for sprayingthe ties, a pump in the tank operative to supply liquid to the spraymeans, a hood arranged below the spray means and adapted to confine thespray therefrom to a certain area of the tie, and supporting means forthe spray means comprising parallel members pivotally connected betweenthe tank and spray means and operative to permit swinging movements ofthe spray means in the direction of travel of the apparatus whilemaintaining the hood in proper angular relationship to the ties.

9. An apparatus for spraying railway ties with a treating liquid,comprising a wheel borne tank for the liquid and adapted to travel alongthe railway, a spray means supported alongside the tank and adapted tobe moved over the ties, a.

pumping means for supplying liquid from the tank to the spray means,means for heating the liquid in the tank, the said spray means includinga movably supported spray nozzle, a hand lever operatively arranged bothto move the nozzle and actuate the pump to supply liquid to the nozzle,and a hood supported below the nozzle for receiving the spray therefromand adapted to be lowered onto the tie to confine the spray to apredetermined area thereof and to act as a support while moving the handlever to move the spray and actuate the pump.

10. An apparatus for applying creosote to railway traok ties, comprisinga tank for the creosote, means supporting the tank for travel along onerail of the track, a spray hood, means supporting the hood in laterallyspaced relation to the tank for movement over the ties as the tanktravels along the rail, a swinging spray nozzle adapted to spray thecreosote over the ties one at a time over an area defined and confinedby said hood, a hand lever connected to the nozzle and adapted to swingthe nozzle and direct the spray Over the tie area covered by the hood, apump for supplying creosote to the spray nozzle, means connecting thepump and hand lever for operating the pump by said hand lever, andheating means in the tank for heating the cresote supplied to the pump.

11. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a wheel bornetank for containing a treating liquid, a spray means, a heating ductpositioned in the tank, means for heating the interior of the duct andfor thereby heating the liquid about the duct, and a pump for supplyingliquid from the tank to the spray means, the said pump being located inthe tank and extending in and through the heating duct.

12. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a wheel bornetank for containing a treating liquid, a spray means, a heating ductpositioned in the tank, means for heating the interior of the duct andfor thereby heating the liquid about the duct, and a pump for supplyingliquid from the tank to the spray means, the said pump being located inthe tank and extending in and through the heating duct, and the pumphaving an inlet located immediately adjacent the duct.

HORACE E. WOOLERY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 866,201 Holley Sept. 17, 19072,026,678 Hefner Jan. 7, 1936 1,059,647 Tarrant Apr. 22, 1913 2,315,162Rasmussen Mar. 30, 1943 2,076,172 Bowden Apr. 6, 1937 1,720,273 HenryJuly 9, 1929 2,317,288 McCubbin Apr. 20, 1943 481,718 Salisbury Aug. 30,1892 1,001,014 French Aug. 22, 1911 1,957,144 Littleford May 1, 19341,636,161 Woolery July 19, 1927 2,351,719 Stahl June 20, 1944 2,367,594Madison June 16, 1945

